preparation...for something big.

To bring you up-to-speed – you may know by now that the Court Hearing for Ashebir’s adoption did not take place as expected on Friday Nov. 20. So, the Ethiopian Court has rescheduled the hearing again. This time to Dec. 1^st.

Ashebir’s aunt still was not able to show up for the hearing, and at this time we don’t know why. Amy and I had a good talk with our Adoption coordinator on Friday after we learned of the rescheduled date. Our agency has been great in this process, and trying their best to get more information from the Ethiopian Government – but they are also at the mercy of their process and decisions.

The questions below are what we’ve asked our Adoption Coordinator to answer for us, hopefully within the next few days.

1. How long would CSHFS allow the postponements before concluding the timeline is indefinite and adoption is not likely to be completed?

2. Is there anything that can be done, especially for Ashebir?

3. What is the longest we’ve seen a case like this go on? What is the longest a family has waited from referral to placement?

4. What type of previous court process occurred to make Ashebir eligible for adoption and why are these things holding up the process now?

We will let you know as soon as we know more. Until then, we would appreciate your prayer especially for Ashebir’s aunt because we don’t know her condition, and why she was not able to attend the hearing on Friday. We would also appreciate your prayer for us through this process as well – patience, grace, understanding, and TRUST that God has Ashebir and this situation completely in His care. We would also appreciate your prayer specifically for Ashebir as he’s been waiting now since early July. He has received some gifts from us including a small picture album and some small toys – so he’s beginning to “know” us. I don’t know exactly what’s going through his young mind and heart, but we are trusting that God is preparing him to be an integral part of our family. Who knows, maybe this is some extra time God is using to assemble the team He wants to bring to Ethiopia to be a part of something big.

If you have any other questions, we’ll be happy to answer them as best we can, but we’ll provide additional updates as we get them!

Relentless,

Pete

1Thes. 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.